1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector fitting apparatus which fits a male connector and a female connector to each other with use of a cam.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, there is a connection detecting apparatus for a connector, which has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-56084.
A connector fitting apparatus, to which the aforesaid connection detecting apparatus is applied, fits terminals of a male connector and a female connector to each other. The female connector is attached with a lever member which is swingable; on the other hand, the male connector is formed with a protrusion. The lever member is formed with a cam groove which is provided with a notch for making an engagement with the protrusion.
The cam groove moves the male connector so that the male connector approaches the female connector by taking advantage of a cam thrust force generated by a distance transfer from a point where the cam groove and the protrusion are fitted to each other to a center point of rotation of the lever member.
As described above, the male connector is moved so that it approaches the female connector, and by doing so, the male connector is led into the female connector side via the protrusion.
Also, the fitting of male and female connectors is released by rotating the lever member in a reverse direction.
In the case where connectors having many terminals are fitted to each other, a large fitting force is required; on the other hand, in case of releasing the fitting of these connectors, a large withdrawal force is required. However, as described above, by taking advantage of a cam thrust force, and further, double force function by the lever member, the fitting of these connectors and the release of the fitting thereof can be readily achieved by a small operational force.
These connectors are separately transported, and thereafter, are fitted to each other at a mounting place in vehicles, etc.
However, in case of transporting the female connector, there is the possibility that a terminal abutting end face, on which a female terminal is exposed, is broken down by an external force if it is not protected by a cover. In order to prevent the end face from being broken down, a strength of a certain degree is required, and also, a wall between terminal openings formed in the terminal abutting end face is not made thin. Therefore, a pitch of female terminals is not made narrow; for this reason, there is a limitation to the miniaturization of connector.
Moreover, since a group of electric wires connected to many female terminals are drawn out of the back side of the female connector, there is a need of attaching a cover to the back side so as to orient the direction of the group of electric wires to one direction.
As seen from the above description, in the aforesaid related art, two kinds of covers are required, and the number of components is too much; for this reason, it takes time to assemble, therefore, causing an increase in cost.